Band of HM Royal Marines Portsmouth

Director of Music: Captain Richard Long BMus(Hons) MMus PGDip LRSM LLCM RM
Bandmaster: WO1 MP Grace LRSM AMusTCL RM
Drum Major: CSgt Bug SJ Boorah RM

Dubai 09

This Easter once again saw the Band’s annual trip to Dubai in support of the St. George's Society Charity Ball. The Band performed a large variety of engagements, including several schools' gigs where we performed a small concert set followed by a marching display. These were well received by all the children. Also the Band performed several times at the Ambassador’s Residence. Whilst out in Dubai the woodwind quintet led by BdSgt Matt Weites managed to get a foreign trip within a foreign trip by making a short excursion to Doha in Qatar where they even managed to get in a quick rig run! While the Quintet were off on their jolly, the rest of the Band had the day off and this was predominantly spent either getting burnt at the local water park, or on a dune safari. The main event of the week was the annual charity ball where the Orchestra, Marching Band and Dance Band performed to great acclaim. The highlight of the evening, for the ladies at the ball, was the charity auction where Musn Matt Green was sold off to the highest bidder! It would be remiss of me to finish this section without giving a few awards for the trip. The soloist of the trip goes to Musn Laura David for her interesting version of Amy Winehouse’s Valerie, the golden blanket of the trip goes to Musn Jon Booth, even though I don’t think there were too many blankets in the bathroom and finally the most acrobatic entry/exit of the pool goes to BdCpl Pete Woffenden ably assisted by Mr J Daniels!

Portsmouth Band in Dubai

Back In The UK

The remainder of the Portsmouth Band came back from a well deserved Easter leave and were straight into it with numerous engagements, such as the annual Navy vs Army rugby match at Twickenham, the PDM’s dining out and the Windsor Castle Royal Tattoo, to name but a few.

Portsmouth Band at the Windsor Tattoo

We all travelled to Twickenham early in the morning so that we could provide the pre-match entertainment at the rugby ground. The spectators were in high spirits as they sang Jerusalem with the help from the male vocal group Blake. We then went for a march round the perimeter of the stadium so that we could keep the supporters entertained, ready for the kick-off. Unfortunately our boys were beaten 50-7 by the Army, but a good day was had by all.

It was then back on the bus and back to Portsmouth so that the Band could bid a fond farewell to Lt Col Chris Davis. We performed a beat retreat outside the Officers’ Mess in HMS Nelson under the direction of WO2 Bdmr Ash Williams. BdCpl Mark Upton and Musn John Rushton played the Post Horn Galop (without the cadenza much to the surprise of the conductor) and then we finished with the traditional Sunset and Rule Britannia. It was then all change so that the orchestra could set up to provide the music for Lt Col Davis’s dinner. There were some fine performances made by Musn Hannah Wheway who played Czardas, Musn Poppy Pawsey who sang Make You Feel My Love and BdCpl Mark Upton who played the mighty McArthur Park. I think it would be fair to say that Lt Col Davis was suitably impressed.

Windsor Castle Royal Tattoo was to be the next major engagement in the Portsmouth Band’s busy schedule. A fairly large band was tasked with this gig and it all started on Monday 11th of May with a trip to Pirbright so that we could take over our accommodation. For those who had never stayed at this Army camp there is a cruel twist as you drive through it. As you drive through, there are brand new accommodation blocks for the recruits stationed there. However, tucked away out of sight at the back of the camp are the transit blocks. Let's just say that they were cleaner when we left at the end of the week… I will say no more!

After lunch we proceeded to Windsor Castle to begin rehearsals for the display itself. We put together an impressive performance which included the Buglers having to manoeuvre up onto a stage in the middle of the arena. It sounds quite simple, but when you have a drum strapped to your leg and no step to climb up, it becomes quite a tricky thing to do. Eventually though, common sense prevailed and the organisers decided to build them some steps. No steps were more entertaining though!

We were also joined by some Naval PTIs who performed the traditional Club Swinging and danced the Sailors’ Hornpipe which was executed brilliantly with BdCpl Andy McKinnon providing the solo line on the violin. Massed Bands including the Massed Pipes and Drums wwere to be the finale for this very prestigious engagement. Her Majesty the Queen was present on the final evening and thankfully the weather held out for the majority of the week to make this a very successful event.
All in all it was a fairly painless gig and we got to buy some very nice cheese and fudge!

AW

Returning To The Fold

Firstly welcome back to all those that were deployed in Afghanistan over the past six months. I felt that the training as part of Commando Logistics Regiment in Chivenor for the six months prior to deploying was beneficial and an experience in itself. The hard work we faced and the constant pressure we were under made for a tough six months, but we came out of it a much stronger unit and extremely well prepared for the upcoming tour.

On returning back to the UK we were greeted by some familiar faces including the PDM and various members of the Band Service, along with family and friends who had given up their own time to come and support us. We then went on some well deserved leave to be reunited with family and friends back home.
After the Mountbatten Festival of Music earlier in the year, it was a pleasure to rejoin the Band Service once again in a musical role for the Horse Guards Parade. The full week’s rehearsal prior to the parade was long and tiring, working in the heat all day, but it most definitely paid off once we got to London. It was particularly nice for those of us who had been away to have an extra opportunity to meet up with old friends from other bands, especially for those of us who had missed MFM due to our operational commitments.

As of June this year the new RM Band Collingwood has been formed, ready to be moved into its Fareham home in early September. In the meantime they are making full use of the orchestral room in Eastney Block. This has made for some interesting rehearsal schedules, especially when players are being borrowed for gigs. Both bands have been joining forces for a number of engagements, including the Chatham Veterans Parade as part of Armed Forces Day, which included a march through the town centre into the historic dockyard followed by a drumhead church service, where we performed for the crowds of locals plus some special guests, which included Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Duke of Gloucester among their numbers.

Musn Skidmore

SCC/JCC Support

This past week has seen the Band assisting on the current SCC/JCC(B). Seven members of the Band were tasked to join this year’s course in the field to run as a utility section. However, the guys managed to get integrated into almost every part of the course, from going out on patrols to sitting in on the orders briefings. Many of the more senior Musns found this quite beneficial as it gave them an insight into what may be in store for them in the years to come. A special mention goes out to Musn Hannah Wheway who despite the many hours the support section were on sentry still managed to volunteer for nearly every patrol going, and with a smile on her face! Good luck to those going out next week! We wish all those on this years Command Course all the best for the coming weeks.

Joiners/Leavers

With the creation of the new band in the Portsmouth area there are far too many leavers to mention but we thank you all for your work and friendship whilst in this band. To all of the joiners that have come to us we welcome you to a new look, streamlined band. A couple of people have however gone on to pastures new. BdSgt Brett Simpson has gone over to the dark side where the money is piled high and the blankets even higher. Thanks Brett for all you have done and enjoy yourself in the Naval Logs Branch. Another leaver to the blue side is Musn Claire Sawyer who has put down her oboe in favour of a pair of latex gloves (steady Sam Hairsine!) and is currently training to be a Naval Nurse. Musn Oliver Nelken has decided that these shores are not for him and has decided to try his hand as a DJ in Romania, an interesting choice but for those of you that know Ollie there will be no surprise.

Congratulations go to Musn Charlotte Webb and Phil on the birth of their son Rowan James and as we write this we wish Musn Charlie Lawson luck as she goes on maternity leave.

Portsmouth Corps of Drums

At the beginning of this term we said goodbye to Cpl Sean Donoghue, congratulations Sean on passing more of your B1s course than you thought you would, and the best of luck for your senior command course! We also said a fond farewell to Bugler James Biff Trowbridge, we will miss your unmistakable laugh and impossibly long arms and hope you enjoy the fabled Plymouth COD. We also begrudgingly welcomed Buglers Lee Kidd, Ben Paine, Ross Tomkins and Lawrence Perry.

We have been working incredibly hard (as normal): Early in the term we performed on HMS Illustrious for celebrations surrounding Fly 100 - the centenary of Naval Aviation. We rehearsed hard for a Beat Retreat on the flight deck and Prince Andrew seemed to enjoy our efforts, as did the Greenwich social scene that evening.
One of the highlights of the term has been The Windsor Castle Royal Tattoo, a Military Musical Extravaganza set to blow the proverbial socks off four different Royals on four consecutive nights. We were staying at Pirbright Army Camp and being a training camp we were without a Beer Boat, so none of us drank anything all week (Honest!). Thankfully all was not lost, as the base's cafe Sandes cooked the most amazing breakfast ever. Carlsberg don’t do full English breakfasts, but... you get my point. The rehearsals for the Tattoo itself were somewhat chaotic for the COD as the organisers wanted us to perform the Drum Static on a 4ft high stage with no steps, which we weren’t going to see before the day of the gig. For the performance that evening we marched up to the stage and in a military fashion unhooked our drums and gave each other boosties onto the stage, where we resumed playing the bugle march and the show went on. We were then supplied with a different set of steps every night until the gig was over. One night we also sheltered from torrential rain in a horse box.

When we returned it was time to knuckle down and learn all the music for this year’s Beat Retreat on Horse Guards Parade and before we knew it, we had been overrun with buglers from all corners of the Band Service. Although we all thoroughly enjoyed the display, after 3 weeks of massed COD banter, the Benny Hill Tea Race and the Shot Game we were all relieved when they returned to their respective bands and we had our own Buglers' Grot back.

Undoubtedly the most uplifting moment of my term so far has been Bugler Mark Johnson’s first gig in over 15 months. Johno has been OOA due to debilitating disease and after courses of steroids and physiotherapy AND painting 40 pairs of white sticks for Horse Guards, he is finally making a welcome return to the COD.
It is with (slight) regret that we wish Buglers Nic Cansfield, John Sumner, Ben Paine, Ross Tomkins and Sgt Bugler Si Chapman the very best of luck in their new drafts in Collingwood Band and hope that their band complex will be ready soon, so that we can have ours back. That’s it from me, until next time,
Ciao
Bomber

Last updated January 2010